Texture is something that is all too easy to forget about. As you mix and match colors and design styles, you could easily end up with a room that feels too hard or too soft, too smooth or too rugged. Striking the right balance is all about choosing the right textures and balancing them. Here are a few textures to keep in mind as you design your next indoor space.

Distressed metal

Metal can be smooth and sleek, of course, but distressed metal will give you more of an industrial feel. Rough-and-ready iron, businesslike stainless steel, and all matter of embossed and cutaway textures will give you space a more complex textural feel. These sorts of textures pair well with distressed and reclaimed woods, smooth wood, and glass, among others.

Stretched canvas

You may not think that the act of hanging a small photograph on the wall would give you much of an opportunity to work some new textures into your space — but you’d be wrong. Thanks to the affordability of custom canvas printing, it’s easy to slide an art-quality stretched canvas into the spot where you would otherwise have put a bland frame. 5×7 canvas prints are the perfect substitute for standard snapshots.

Soft fabric

A lot of the things that you decorate your room with will look and feel hard and smooth. You’ll have wooden or metal furniture, glass-fronted framed photographs and more. You need to soften things up with fabrics, and you can do so by hanging soft fabrics such as quilts and tapestries on your walls.

Rugs are great ways to soften up a room, too, but don’t neglect the power of a fabric wall hanging. Putting a quilt or tapestry high on your wall will elevate your texture game.

Naturally, you can also use fabrics to stay cozy. The right throw blanket or throw pillows can make your space look and feel comfortable and cozy. Just remember to wash your stuff once in a while — nothing stays clean forever.

Leather

The leather is one of those classic materials that can take on just about any type of room. Soft leather couches are perfect for comfy living spaces, but leather can also be stretched over tables or even used in wall hangings.

You can really think of leather as being multiple textures in one. Depending on the sort of sofa or other type of furniture that you’re looking at, as well as the age, condition, and even color (in interior design, texture is about how things look as much as it is about how they feel!) of the leather, your leather could give you very different textural vibes.

Sleek metal and glass

Metal and glass can both have rough or frosted textures, but modern minimalists love to use them as smooth, pristine surfaces on simple and functional pieces of furniture. You’ll also find smooth glass covering many framed photographs.

Sleek metal and glass contrast beautifully with more rugged distressed woods (you should be careful, on the other hand, about mixing sleek metals with rugged ones). They’re great for minimalists and modernists, and they can present a tasteful alternative to rugged metals for folks who aren’t quite ready to go full industrial with their home design.

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